This is a repost from my vanity site — some of you have had your certs for a year and they have expired. So here’s a refresher on how to get your free encryption certificate. Pass this along to your friends who also use AIM. You will have to use Internet Explorer for this.

Because we use AIM at the office, we have a responsibility to be as safe and secure as possible.

Versions of AIM (5.5.3501 and later) allows you to import PKCS12 encryption certificates, thereby allowing for secure communications between users who ::both:: have these certificates.

Verisign is charging $15 a year for these certificates, or you can get one for free from a Web site I found. I have written out the steps I took to enable encryption on my AIM client. I hope you do the same!

Make sure you have the latest version of AIM installed:

Open your buddy list

Go to My Aim >> Edit Options >> Edit Preferences

Select “Sign On/Sign Off” from the left hand menu

Select “Beta and Final Releases” from the Auto Upgrade pulldown on the right